Ellora’s Cave Author Exodus Support Thread

This post is for authors, editors, and cover artists who’ve left, or who are trying to leave, Ellora’s Cave. I’ve got a section for other resources for EC authors at the end of this post.

Authors

At least one of the following needs to be true:
1. Asked for your rights to be reverted in 2014 (or 2015) or had your rights reverted in 2014 (or 2015). Or, and I hope this isn’t true for you, your rights were reverted but EC is still selling your titles.
2. Have taken your EC titles off your website. Or, if they’re reverted, have re-published at least some of them.
3. Have spoken up since December 2012 about late royalties, missing royalties, or suspiciously declining royalties in a public post (blog, facebook, google+, whatver) or tweet.
4. Have had an EC title for which EC has sold the contract to another publisher.
5. Have publicly posted that you’re afraid to speak up. (Thanks for the idea, Courtney!)

You must also have a non-EC title to promote, since many of the readers of this thread may not wish to enrich Ellora’s Cave.

Click on author name for the author’s website.

Cat Grant. She’s gotten her three Ellora’s Cave titles reverted (soon to be re-published) and has more than twenty titles from other sources.

I loved my editor, thought their cover art was brilliant, and was very fond of the regular royalty checks.

Yesterday I deleted those covers from my website, which makes me want to sob.

I still adore those stories, but Ellora’s Cave isn’t paying me. I sent them formal notice requesting payment and the reversion of my rights. I received an automated response to both emails stating they’re overwhelmed with requests.

Avril Ashton. Spoke about royalty issues. “I’m going to say that once again Ellora’s Cave isn’t paying royalty checks. I’m going to say that once again, emails and phone calls and fucking homing pigeons are being left unanswered. Silence on all correspondence.”

Another month has gone by and no check from EC. Emails and phone calls go unanswered, just like always. I have no doubt if I was to go up there in person, I would find the office doors locked.

. . . .

It’s a shame that we at EC have to resort to such a tactic, but I’m adding my name to the list of authors who are asking that readers not buy their EC titles. We’re not getting paid for them anyway.

Lex Valentine. Lex commented on Passive Voice: “I got a lovely check September 23 dated August 31 for May royalties. It was $43 and change. The only thing I found curious was how it took nearly a month for that check to get from Ohio to Southern California and that I got a check at all considering some of my EC author friends haven’t been paid.”

I’m an Ellora’s Cave author. I only have one book there, and it has never been a bestseller, but I love it and I would be heartbroken if it were to end up as part of a bankruptcy settlement. So, I asked for a reversion of my rights last week, after a summer of rumblings from other authors who weren’t happy with their experience with the company. I myself have never had any payment issues with Ellora’s Cave, but having been in the business for almost a decade, I’ve learned that when authors are saying that they aren’t getting paid, other things aren’t getting paid, either. As Litte points out in her post, if a company goes bankrupt, authors can lose their rights permanently, so some Ellora’s Cave authors are faced with a difficult, possibly bridge-burning choice right now. I’ve never met an Ellora’s Cave staff member about whom I could say a bad word, and it pains me to cut ties with a publisher that I feel has treated me well, but in business you have to make hard decisions to protect your interests.

Lynne Connolly. Comments below, and has removed her EC titles from her website as well as gotten reversions on her unpublished titles.

I have one book filtered at Amazon and I don’t even have a year’s worth of sales numbers on it, but I can tell you it definitely meets the ‘sells less than 100 copies in a calendar year’… No one even knows the book exists unless I tell them. And it’s filtered because I didn’t specify No Nudity for the cover. Okay, I took blame for that, but how was I supposed to know I had to tell Ellora’s Cave what their distributors would and wouldn’t allow on covers in order for them to be found by readers and not stashed so deep into the abyss? I had never had to specify that before and believe you me, I learned that lesson. Because the next and final book that I submitted specified on the cover art form NO NUDITY!

Cover Artists

They owe me for covers for two months. They worked me like a dog, took the art, and now tell me nothing. Or that they have no idea when I will be paid. I am really frustrated. Got bills, got a life, got just me, no back up, and now I have no loyalty for a company I served for six years as an artist.

If you need covers for a book project, you can contact Dar at Wicked Smart Designs. I’m sure she’d appreciate the work.

ScuttlebuttReviews comments below. “We currently cannot commit to reviews, but can accept author promos, guest posts, and the like. Please note that we only accept GLBTQ books, the bulk of which are MM/Gay.”

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

If you’re a SFWA member and are having trouble receiving payment, or believe your royalties aren’t accurate, you may be able to use SFWA’s Grievance Committee resource. Not all EC titles fall under SFWA’s purvue, but many stories are science fiction, paranormal romance, or similar genres.

Comment Note

Note: Comments use gravatars. If you wish to comment anonymously, be careful. To the extent the law permits, I will protect anonymous commenters. Also, all comments are moderated unless there’s a previously-approved comment from you.

About the Author

Comments

Last week, I asked my webmaster to remove all Ellora’s Cave books from my web page, stating that I will not provide anyone free promo if I’m not being paid. My last check, covering royalties earned for the month of April, was $48.94 – around 1/4 of my usual earnings. I received the check in July and have received nothing since. I emailed Raelene that I’d been patiently waiting for a check since the “CEO” sent out that rambling email blaming everything on Amazon. Her response to me was “I’m so sorry.” She went on to explain that she had no access to the information I was seeking – do I have a check coming and if so when was it mailed – but that she would forward it to the royalties department. Got a brief response asking for which pay period but nothing since. I really do not expect that I’ll receive anything and if I do, it won’t be enough for me to pay the few bills I have nor the 8 medications I take daily. I’m now trying to figure out which ones I can NOT get refilled and still stay alive. Like Lex and Cat, I’m disabled, I’m single, and I’ll be 61 this December (which is fast approaching – oh my!) I do have a few India Masters books-backlist stuff- with Beyond the Page Publishing, and two titles under the name of Keira Cole. Come the end of October, I’m retiring the India Masters brand. The books through BtP will still be available but I won’t do any promo for them. Any further books I may write, as my health permits, will be published under the Keira Cole name. I have publicly encouraged readers not to purchase any of my Ellora’s Cave books and will say so here, once more. I’d rather not get a dime than to throw even my little pittance into their coffers. I’m not trying to be mean or throw a temper tantrum. It’s a matter of principal and I’d rather have nothing coming in, it’s as simple as that. What good does 48 bucks do me in the grand scheme of things? Nothing, that’s what. If a check does magically appear in my mail box, I will drive like Richard Petty, straight to the bank, and cash that sucker and I’d advise anyone else to do the same. So, sue me. If they want my rusty old 22 year old Buick Roadmaster station wagon, come on down to Florida and hook that sucker up to the tow truck and more power to you. Want my thrift shop furniture? Rent a Uhaul and come and get it. That’s all I own. Most of my life I’ve had nothing so having nothing again just makes me shrug my shoulders because stuff is no big deal to me. As an old hippie, my philosophy has always been to never own more than I can carry in the back of the van. BUT, come after my iPod and, to quote Cat Grant, “I will cut you.” LOL. Have a wonderful day, my dear, and lets throw up our fists in support of authors, artists, and our incredibly talented editors. Solidarity will get it done.

India, as a disabled reader who went through a very scary time myself a few years back, I know what it’s like to worry about how you’re going to pay for meds and wonder which one(s) you can do without this month. Check the websites of the pharmaceutical companies that make your meds. Many of them have programs to provide their medications for free for those who can’t afford to buy them. Also, check out the Healthwell Foundation. One of my medications is stupid expensive, even with Medicare drug coverage, and their grants have helped me more than once. http://healthwellfoundation.org/ Some of my doctors have been able to help me out with samples in a pinch, too.

It shouldn’t come to this. You should be paid for your hard work. I hope you’ll be able to get some help with your meds, so at least that pressure is taken off.

Thanks Becky! I’ll definitely check it out. I do have to say that I finally got the May royalty check on the 27th of September. You could have knocked me over with a feather. Of course, it should have come in July and I suspect the push is on to get checks out under the quarterly deadline to avoid breach. My opinion, of course. Can’t say with a certainty because there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to which days of the months they choose to mail them. Of course, there’s no date stamp on the envelope so who really knows if there’s any correlation between the dates on the checks and when they went out. It never occurred to me there was some nefarious reason for not having a date on the postage because I’m not an intentionally deceptive person. SMH. All of this crap is giving me a headache.

I’m another editor who hasn’t been paid since early summer, and I’ve commented on DA and elsewhere about it. I’ve been keeping my mouth shut in the hopes that I might one day see some of the money I’m owed. But with their most recent actions against Dear Author, I think it’s time to cut my losses.

Thanks for the support, Deirdre. I’ve been trying to concentrate on the books I write for other publishers, but this stuff is a serious time-suck. If anyone finds an EC book on my website, please let me know and I’ll take it down. It’s a big site and I manage it myself, so sometimes I might miss something.
I’ve since received reversion of rights to my unpublished EC work. A trilogy about a political scandal set in Washington, with dragons (in proposal), a book about a psychic woman who loses everything in a traumatic rape with a vampire hero I might rewrite as a dragon, and a contemporary about a rock star manager who meets a Britney Spears type trying to turn her life around (and he doesn’t make her a star, he takes her to bed and gives her some love and understanding instead!) And yes, I listed them in case anybody has an interest in taking them up.
They are mine again, which I’m very happy about, but I still have 19 published books caught up in this. None of which are on my website any more.

Lynne, I meant to add you last night but I’ve been exhausted (wrenched a hip muscle which makes it surprisingly hard to sleep) and just missed you. Sorry about that.

Thank you so much for your comment. I’m sorry you’ve got 19 books caught up in EC given the current circumstances, but I’m also glad you’ve got your unpublished work reverted. The rock star manager one sounds like it’s right up my alley.

I’m an EC author who’s received obviously backdated checks, suspect royalty statements missing books, whose questions and concerns have gone unanswered by TPTB. I’ve removed all EC books from my website and have asked for all my rights to be returned. Obviously, they haven’t bothered to respond.

However, I have zero wish to be on the receiving end of the wounded beast’s further attacks. I don’t believe they’ll stop at Dear Author. They’ll be going after everyone who’s uttered a bad word about them until the company is finally dead at their feet.

While posting this list is great for readers who want to support the EC authors that are bravely speaking out, I can’t help but feel this is a list of targets for the crazies to chomp on next.

There are enough people for whom your circumstances are true that I don’t believe they will be able to identify you from what you’ve stated.

I completely understand not wanting to poke the beast. People (and companies) who feel they have nothing to lose are the most unpredictable of all. Machiavelli comments on this in The Discourses when talking about Madonna Caterina (aka Caterina Sforza). Who, when they killed her husband and held her children to get her to comply with their demands, dropped trou and said, “I can make more!”

I’m hoping that the benefit of having a list of people whose work to purchase outweighs any potential downside from the spasms of a troubled firm. (IMHO: the tax liens alone justify that phrase.)

I’m grateful to EC for giving me my start in publishing, and launching my career with my first five books. I’ve been paid on time every month.

That said, I did request reversion on my books. I got Punishing the Art Thief, Ginger Snap, Chastity Belt and Hollywood Spank back, and have reissued them myself. After the email-of-which-shall-not-be-spoken, I requested my last book, Bedhead, back from them.

According to my royalty statements, it’s selling poorly enough that I should be able to get the rights back. Fingers crossed!

I would also like to add that everyone who works at or for EC has always been awesome to me, and Romanticon used to be my favorite convention. I’m sad this is going down the way it is.

I’m really glad for all the authors who, like you, got their start with Ellora’s Cave. I’m glad you haven’t had some of the troubles other authors have. Hope you can get a reversion on that last title!

I’ve added you to the list above, and also wanted to say I enjoyed your recent Entangled book.

I just want to be done with this. I’ve asked for my rights back and haven’t gotten more than a form response to the latest, though I did get two shorts back – Take Me at the Ballgame and Birthday Boy. I’ve put them together into Sizzling Shorts, volume 2. Let’s all be adult and professional about this and do the right thing.

Shoshanna – I hear you. There was no bigger supporter of EC than me before all this went down. I was grateful for the opportunity to edit some really wonderful writers and to acquire stories I loved and believed in. But when I see TPTB lashing out with complete and utter bullshit, filing frivolous lawsuits, I cannot keep quiet. This is a travesty of justice and I will not rest until I’ve done everything I can to make sure justice is served.

What breaks my heart is that so many fantastic authors have gotten caught up in this crap.

And I miss what EC once was. When this company was founded, it did so many groundbreaking things. Now, I’m reminded of T.S. Eliot: “This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper.”

There has been a ton of backlash against the lawsuit. Quite a number of sites who do reviews have said they won’t review EC titles any more. I don’t know how important those reviewers are in the grand scheme of things, but hearing that as a public statement is quite jarring.

I really hope it all works out well in the end. I hope those who want their rights reverted are able to get them (me too!).

The thing I don’t like about defamation lawsuits in general is that they have a tendency to silence dissent and free speech. It can cause people (such as the anonymous commenters both here and on other blogs) to self-censor. And that sucks.

As an avid reader I have bought ebooks from the beginning. I have some of ellora’s cave original e-books on cd somewhere around here. While I was underwhelmed by Jaid Black’s books, many of the other authors were true gems that I was pleased to discover. I have decided to not buy anymore books from EC. And have subsequently cancelled any pre-orders of future titles published by EC.

I fully support the authors, editors, and artists, that have been screwed over and will continue to buy their non EC titles.

[Deleted speculation about an author. If she wishes to post here on that matter, she’s welcome to.]

I hate that so many talented authors and newbies are getting mistreated by a publisher. [Deleted speculation about EC’s motivations.]

I understand about the editing – I couldn’t figure out how to edit the comment myself so thank you for that. 🙂 Yeah, I bought those back 1999 or 2000. I had heard about EC from a Suz Brockmann fan forum I was on at the time. I even wrote a fan fic short but wasn’t brave enough to post it.

See, I can’t believe I didn’t hear about EC until much, much later. I guess I was just that unplugged from the romance scene. All my fellow grad school (Seton Hill) students who did romance were looking to go the traditional print way. That’s only now starting to change.

Fanfiction.net has a really supportive community if you ever want to post your fanfic somewhere. It’s quite the kick to get almost instantaneous feedback.

When I FINALLY finally finally got a title accepted by Ellora’s Cave a few years ago I was over the moon! Then I was told to change the ending. Then I “got” the cover. Now it’s off my website and I plan to take it back using the publisher’s one-fingered salute on FB that I translated as: “Hey Liz! Here’s Lust On Tap back! Enjoy and here’s to putting it right, including the lame ass title you had to use! I’m sure you won’t miss all those $4 and $10 checks from me.”

Please add me to your list. I will happily give away the entire STEWART REALTY SERIES in e-book. A series that pays the mortgage and that EC rejected 3 times (on their rewrites).
cheers!
Liz

I’ve asked for my rights back and have been advised they’ll “review” the possibility of reversion in 6 months. To be honest, I’m quite terrified that EC will fold before the time passes and my titles will be lost.

As a dedicated fan and consumer of several romance sub-genres, I’m following the Dear Author/EC set-to as a riveted bystander. I’ve been trying to glean a better understanding of the publishing industry so that the bigger picture will make more sense to me. In doing so I came across this lengthy discussion of EC’s woes following the confusing letter sent to EC authors in mid-August.

It’s on a very informative site called The Passive Voice, run by an attorney with a particular interest in the publishing industry. This conversation specifically addresses the vulnerabilities of authors when their publishing house goes bankrupt, and there are several voices of experience, including a bankruptcy attorney taking part. It seems to have some very pertinent advice for authors, including what steps to take when a company’s management starts trying to reassure everyone that bankruptcy is the farthest thing from their mind. Of course, I don’t have the experience or savvy to know how likely this is for EC, but if I were an author in EC’s stables at this point, I’d want to have as much info as I could garner. One eye opener from the discussion is that you can have all kinds of statements in your contract about protecting your works should a bankruptcy take place, but they’re “not worth the ink on the printout” since they fly in the face of longstanding bankruptcy law. Anyhow, I know it’s a long discussion, but it’s lively, and particularly interesting since it almost predicts the situation that’s now unfolding. Here’s the link: http://www.thepassivevoice.com/08/2014/changes-at-elloras-cave/

Of course, if it isn’t appropriate or helpful to the EC authors, I hope that Deidre will simply delete my post. Please know, authors, that your readers are routing for you in all this.

I have requested my rights back to five of my seven EC titles (the others aren’t eligible). Unlike some authors, I’m fortunate that I also have books with Siren, Torquere, and Evernight. Thank you for supporting authors. Berengaria

You reported here that I removed my books from my website. I haven’t removed anything…In fact the our webmistress just made some updates today. I had a book on there from Triskelion and didn’t know it. There are no EC titles because the site wasn’t updated. And The Butterscotch Martini Girls is not just my site…there are several of us.

Now if I can just figure it out…:-)…I wrote that post right after a chemo treatment…which is never wise. I’m not saying much about what’s happening because I fear hurting an author like me, who has their fingertips hanging on the edge of a cliff. We’re caught in the middle, where I’d like to gather us all like a mother hen and offer protection.

I wrote a number of books for EC and have regained the rights to all but two of them so far this year. Trying to figure out a way to afford a buyback for the remaining two. This whole thing just makes me really sad. I worked with some great folks at EC, I still have tremendous professional respect for a lot of them (and I have tried to reach out to those individuals privately where possible and express my admiration because I figure most of them could probably stand to hear something positive right now).

My own stress about the situation has been almost overwhelming at times, but I’m doing my best to re-sell some reverted books, take a crash course in self-pubbing to re-release others, and generally treat the debacle as a second chance for a lot of books that never really got much attention when EC released them the first time.

In the meantime, any sales for my non-EC books would be so vastly appreciated.

I am an EC author. I wrote for them for several years and was really happy with my editors and the cover art. But when my sales began slipping (before I knew there was a problem), I requested my rights back. As the problems began escalating and my emails went unanswered, I sent a registered letter detailing titles, ISBNs and original reversion request dates (allowing for the 6 months in my book contracts). By the end of the year I will have the rights back to all but 3 of my titles.

Please feel free to add ScuttlebuttReviews to your list of those willing to host EC authors with books from alternate venues. We currently cannot commit to reviews, but can accept author promos, guest posts, and the like. Please note that we only accept GLBTQ books, the bulk of which are MM/Gay.